California WelfaretoWork Transportation Needs Assessment Study

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California Welfare-to-Work Transportation Needs
Assessment Study

• Evelyn Blumenberg
• UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
• October 9, 2002

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• Carries Morning
• Well...my typical day is I get up at 500 am. I
  get my four daughters ready for school, about
  600 am... I walk them to school cuz their
  school is not too far from my house. An then from
  then on, after I make sure theyre at school and
  everything, then if I have to come to the job
  search, I would get on the bus. Itll take me
  almost about a hour to 45 minutes to get from
  Palmdale to Lancaster on the bus system.

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• Carries Work Day
• And basically, we pretty much, pretty much they
  already have my day planned out for me, what I
  have to do. If I have so many job searches, I
  know that I have to go to three different places
  on the bus, so I pretty much have to have my time
  schedule all ready. But it dont work that way
  because the buses dont work that way. So if I
  get there on time, I pretty much do my
  applications, do what I have to do. If not, Ill
  try to see if they can see me again or whatever I
  have to do. Get to the job search program, do
  whatever needs to be done. Go to the
  unemployment office, go to job interviews, fill
  out applications.

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• Carries Afternoon
• Then, after my day is complete of doin all that,
  I get back on the bus. I try to get back on the
  bus before 1200 or 100 because my children get
  out at 235. And if Im not there at that time
  to get them, that means my children is gonna have
  to walk home, sit outside and wait for me to show
  up, or they gonna be sittin outside til I get
  off the bus. So I try to have everything done
  before a certain time where I can be there for
  them. An, um, its hard.

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Purpose of Research

• To identify the work-related transportation
  barriers facing CalWORKs participants and
  low-income individuals
• To identify solutions to ease the work-related
  travel of welfare recipients and low-income
  individuals and
• To develop a strategy for the allocation of
  funding provided through the Job Access and
  Reverse Commute Program in California.

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California W-t-W Transportation Needs Assessment

• Review of existing studies
• Analysis of Low-Income Adults and Welfare
  Recipients in California
• Access to Employment and Services
• Public Transit and Private Vehicles
• Current Services to Meet the Needs of Welfare
  Recipients and Low-Wage Workers
• County maps
• Policy Recommendations

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California W-t-W Transportation Needs Assessment

• Current Research on Transportation and Welfare
  Recipients
• (2) Californias Poor
• (3) Spatial Access to Employment
• (4) Policy Challenges

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What Do We Know?Current Research on
Transportation and Welfare Recipients
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Major Findings

• All major urban areas contain neighborhoods in
  which residents are spatially isolated from
  employment.
• Low-income commuters travel shorter distances
  than other commuters.
• Most low-income commuters travel by car however,
  a disproportionate number use public transit.
• Low-income women have unique travel patterns and
  transportation barriers.
• The lack of reliable and efficient transportation
  is a significant barrier to employment.

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Three-quarters of all the Americans who get
public assistance live in central cities or rural
areas two-thirds of the new jobs are in the
suburbs. It doesn't take Einstein to figure out
that transportation is critical to matching the
available work force with the available jobs.
--Former President Clinton, February 23, 2000
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Major Findings

• All major urban areas contain neighborhoods in
  which residents are spatially isolated from
  employment.
• Low-income commuters travel shorter distances
  than other commuters.
• Most low-income commuters travel by car however,
  a disproportionate number use public transit.
• Low-income women have unique travel patterns and
  transportation barriers.
• The lack of reliable and efficient transportation
  is a significant barrier to employment.

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Major Findings

• All major urban areas contain neighborhoods in
  which residents are spatially isolated from
  employment.
• Low-income commuters travel shorter distances
  than other commuters.
• Most low-income commuters travel by car however,
  a disproportionate number use public transit.
• Low-income women have unique travel patterns and
  transportation barriers.
• The lack of reliable and efficient transportation
  is a significant barrier to employment.

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Auto Ownership and Access
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Major Findings

• All major urban areas contain neighborhoods in
  which residents are spatially isolated from
  employment.
• Low-income commuters travel shorter distances
  than other commuters.
• Most low-income commuters travel by car however,
  a disproportionate number use public transit.
• Low-income women have unique travel patterns and
  transportation barriers.
• The lack of reliable and efficient transportation
  is a significant barrier to employment.

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Travel Behavior of Low-Income Women
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Travel Behavior of Low-Income Women
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Travel Behavior of Low-Income Women
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Travel Behavior of Low-Income Women
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Travel Behavior of Low-Income Women
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Major Findings

• All major urban areas contain neighborhoods in
  which residents are spatially isolated from
  employment.
• Low-income commuters travel shorter distances
  than other commuters.
• Most low-income commuters travel by car however,
  a disproportionate number use public transit.
• Low-income women have unique travel patterns and
  transportation barriers.
• The lack of reliable and efficient transportation
  is a significant barrier to employment.

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• Who are Californias poor? How are they similar
  and/or different from welfare recipients?

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• Spatial Access to Employment

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Employment Access

• In most urban areas there remains high
  concentrations of low-wage jobs and low-income
  households in neighborhoods surrounding the
  downtown area
• Some urban neighborhoods are spatially isolated
  from employment
• Most low-income workers commute relatively short
  distances
• In urban areas, most low-income adults live close
  to public transit however, travel times to
  job-rich areas can be lengthy
• The transit-dependent poor living in
  non-urbanized areas of the state are few in
  numbers but the most spatially isolated from
  employment and services

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Employment Access

• In most urban areas there remains high
  concentrations of low-wage jobs and low-income
  households in neighborhoods surrounding the
  downtown area
• Some urban neighborhoods are spatially isolated
  from employment
• Most low-income workers commute relatively short
  distances
• In urban areas, most low-income adults live close
  to public transit however, travel times to
  job-rich areas can be lengthy
• The transit-dependent poor living in
  non-urbanized areas of the state are few in
  numbers but the most spatially isolated from
  employment and services

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Employment Access

• In most urban areas there remains high
  concentrations of low-wage jobs and low-income
  households in neighborhoods surrounding the
  downtown area
• Some urban neighborhoods are spatially isolated
  from employment
• Most low-income workers commute relatively short
  distances
• In urban areas, most low-income adults live close
  to public transit however, travel times to
  job-rich areas can be lengthy
• The transit-dependent poor living in
  non-urbanized areas of the state are few in
  numbers but the most spatially isolated from
  employment and services

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Employment Access

• In most urban areas there remains high
  concentrations of low-wage jobs and low-income
  households in neighborhoods surrounding the
  downtown area
• Some urban neighborhoods are spatially isolated
  from employment
• Most low-income workers commute relatively short
  distances
• In urban areas, most low-income adults live close
  to public transit however, travel times to
  job-rich areas can be lengthy
• The transit-dependent poor living in
  non-urbanized areas of the state are few in
  numbers but the most spatially isolated from
  employment and services

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Distribution of Commute DistanceUrban Areas
California
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Employment Access

• In most urban areas there remains high
  concentrations of low-wage jobs and low-income
  households in neighborhoods surrounding the
  downtown area
• Some urban neighborhoods are spatially isolated
  from employment
• Most low-income workers commute relatively short
  distances
• In urban areas, most low-income adults live close
  to public transit however, travel times to
  job-rich areas can be lengthy
• The transit-dependent poor living in
  non-urbanized areas of the state are few in
  numbers but the most spatially isolated from
  employment and services

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Within ¼-Mile From a Transit Line
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Employment Access

• In most urban areas there remains high
  concentrations of low-wage jobs and low-income
  households in neighborhoods surrounding the
  downtown area
• Some urban neighborhoods are spatially isolated
  from employment
• Most low-income workers commute relatively short
  distances
• In urban areas, most low-income adults live close
  to public transit however, travel times to
  job-rich areas can be lengthy
• The transit-dependent poor living in
  non-urbanized areas of the state are few in
  numbers but the most spatially isolated from
  employment and services

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Within ¼-Mile From a Transit Line
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Policy Challenges

• Balancing the needs of the rural poor with that
  of the urban poor
• Not assuming that all low-income households are
  alike and share the same sets of transportation
  resources or barriers
• Reducing travel times for those traveling longer
  distances
• Incorporating cars as part of the overall policy
  solution
• Rigorously evaluating new transportation programs
  and services.

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Policy Challenges

• Balancing the needs of the rural poor with that
  of the urban poor
• Not assuming that all low-income households are
  alike and share the same sets of transportation
  resources or barriers
• Reducing travel times for those traveling longer
  distances
• Incorporating cars as part of the overall policy
  solution
• Rigorously evaluating new transportation programs
  and services.

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Neighborhood Matrix
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Policy Challenges

• Balancing the needs of the rural poor with that
  of the urban poor
• Not assuming that all low-income households are
  alike and share the same sets of transportation
  resources or barriers
• Reducing travel times for those traveling longer
  distances
• Incorporating cars as part of the overall policy
  solution
• Rigorously evaluating new transportation programs
  and services.

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Policy Challenges

• Balancing the needs of the rural poor with that
  of the urban poor
• Not assuming that all low-income households are
  alike and share the same sets of transportation
  resources or barriers
• Reducing travel times for those traveling longer
  distances
• Incorporating cars as part of the overall policy
  solution
• Rigorously evaluating new transportation programs
  and services.

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Policy Challenges

• Balancing the needs of the rural poor with that
  of the urban poor
• Not assuming that all low-income households are
  alike and share the same sets of transportation
  resources or barriers
• Reducing travel times for those traveling longer
  distances
• Incorporating cars as part of the overall policy
  solution
• Rigorously evaluating new transportation programs
  and services.